Dwight McNeil: Players want to line-up with unsung Everton man, set for Dominic Calvert-Lewin boost
Dwight McNeil is the sort of unsung player that others want to line up alongside says former Everton defender Michael Ball.
The former Burnley got off the mark for the Toffees with the winning goal at Southampton on Saturday (1 October) to score his first goal for the club, and a first strike in the Premier League since March 2021.
But Ball believes that the 22-year-old is set to receive a big boost to his output with the imminent return from injury of top Everton striker Dominic Calvert-Lewin, which will help him show his best after struggling in a poor Clarets side last year.
Writing in his Monday night Liverpool Echo column (3 October) the ex-Toffee said: “As a former full-back myself I can tell you that a lot of players would like to line-up alongside Dwight McNeil because he puts in a lot of work to protect the midfield and his defender behind him, a lot of which probably goes unnoticed but we were lacking in creativity and that’s what he’s been brought to the club to do.
“I feel this goal at Southampton, to get him off the mark for Everton, will give him huge confidence and kick-start his season but hopefully when Dominic Calvert-Lewin gets back into the team, we’ll see more of McNeil as he can get his half a yard to create opportunities and crosses for strikers.
“His stats from last season didn’t really show what he could bring. You have to remember at Burnley he was playing for a team who were playing very defensively and struggling in the league so he wouldn’t have had many opportunities.”
Lift off
Eyebrows were raised in the summer when the club shelled out £20million on an attacking player who hadn’t scored in over a year, even if the fee was heavily staggered.
Coming just after the failed pursuit for Maxwel Cornet, his Turf Moor teammate who had hit the net on a much more regular basis, it was tempting to see the signing as a mis-step.
Full-backs might appreciate his support but he needs to have an impact at the other end of the pitch too, so hopes have been raised that his smashed finish to secure three points on the south coast at the weekend could be the starting point of him finding his feet with the club.
Goodison Park pundit Kevin Campbell has also suggested that starting the season without a focal point in attack didn’t help with his adjustment, so it won’t just be the fans who are desperate to see their number nine back up front.
Neal Maupay has provided a vital outlet since his arrival from Brighton, but considering Calvert-Lewin’s ability in the air he is the kind of target man who the likes of McNeil can thrive with.
After the year the England international has had with injuries it is little surprise that Frank Lampard has held off bringing him back into the team, and it remains to be seen how soon the main man is risked again, but McNeil will be looking forward to it.